Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes?

From	William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca>
Newsgroups	comp.os.linux.misc
Subject	Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes?
Date	2015-03-06 16:19 +0000
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<mdck2p$lka$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<mpro.nhmgax01ltwud02og@wingsandbeaks.org.uk.invalid> <m8acsk$6ag$1@dont-email.me> <mpro.nhpves0038sal01jg@wingsandbeaks.org.uk.invalid> <MPG.2f6316c554f8c64989813@news.eternal-september.org>

Show all headers | View raw

On 2015-03-06, J. Clarke <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article <mpro.nhpves0038sal01jg@wingsandbeaks.org.uk.invalid>, 
> jn.nntp.scrap007@wingsandbeaks.org.uk says...
>> 
>> William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> wrote:
>> 
>> >On 2015-01-03, Jeremy Nicoll - news posts
>> <jn.nntp.scrap007@wingsandbeaks.org.uk> wrote:
>> >> How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised
>> changes?
>> >>
>> > > What I mean is, if they install patches or some package whose
>> > > configuration screws things up, and they then can't boot - what then?
>> >
>> >Do you have a problem or is this a theoretical discussion.
>> 
>> It's theoretical.  I'm contemplating buying a new computer, putting multiple
>> disks in it (perhaps) and wondering what OS to install... and then how to
>> structure things.  I realise that if I go with linux (or eg one of the BSDs)
>> I will have scope for careful separation of different parts of my files
>> structure onto different mounts/ partitions/ disks, and that will help to
>> protect things a lot.

You can if you want. You could also put everything into one partition as
well (plus a swap, but that is not essential). It may be an inconvenient thing
to do, when you next upgrade, but it is possible. The mania for having
15 different partitions is, I think silly, but two, one for stuff that
can be wiped to upgrade, and one for stuff you really want to keep
across and upgrade, makes sense. 

>> 
>> Back when I worked for a living, I helped maintain MVS (nowadays z/OS)
>> systems, and there we always had multiple copies of sets of system drives,
>> and could flip between them.  It struck me that doing something similar with
>> a new system (especially one whose OS I'd not be comfortable with for ages)
>> might be a good idea.

You could set aside an extra partition for your "old" system on an
upgrade, so if the new one caused problems you could boot into the old
one. 

>

Thread

How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Jeremy Nicoll - news posts <jn.nntp.scrap007@wingsandbeaks.org.uk> - 2015-01-03 22:11 +0000
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-03 22:25 +0000
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Grant <omg@grrr.id.au> - 2015-01-04 09:48 +1100
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Jack Strangio  <jackstrangio@yahoo.com> - 2015-01-04 01:36 +0000
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2015-01-04 03:43 +0000
    Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Jerry Peters <jerry@example.invalid> - 2015-01-04 21:31 +0000
    Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Jeremy Nicoll - news posts <jn.nntp.scrap007@wingsandbeaks.org.uk> - 2015-01-05 18:30 +0000
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-05 19:17 +0000
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-05 13:48 -0600
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 21:04 +0000
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-05 13:48 -0600
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-05 21:08 +0000
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-05 15:23 -0600
            Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-05 21:29 +0000
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? Mladen Gogala <gogala.mladen@gmail.com> - 2015-01-06 01:29 +0000
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> - 2015-01-05 13:22 -0800
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Jerry Peters <jerry@example.invalid> - 2015-01-05 21:32 +0000
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-03-06 01:44 -0500
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2015-03-06 16:19 +0000
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2015-01-04 12:16 +0000
    Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-04 13:33 +0000
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-04 14:00 +0000
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-04 08:29 -0600
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-04 15:06 +0000
            Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised   changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-04 09:31 -0600
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> - 2015-01-04 09:29 -0800
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised   changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-04 18:25 +0000
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2015-01-04 17:56 +0000
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-04 18:20 +0000
            Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-04 23:30 +0000
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 11:15 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-05 12:33 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 12:49 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-05 13:10 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 13:36 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Jeremy Nicoll - news posts <jn.nntp.scrap007@wingsandbeaks.org.uk> - 2015-01-05 18:56 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2015-01-05 15:13 +0100
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2015-01-05 12:31 -0800
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2015-01-05 16:05 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be.invalid> - 2015-01-05 18:05 +0100
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 18:12 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be.invalid> - 2015-01-06 09:56 +0100
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-04 08:21 -0600
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2015-01-04 18:04 +0000
    Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Jeremy Nicoll - news posts <jn.nntp.scrap007@wingsandbeaks.org.uk> - 2015-01-05 18:43 +0000
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-05 13:48 -0600
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2015-01-05 19:51 +0000
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Johnny <johnny@invalid.net> - 2015-01-04 17:18 -0600
    Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Johnny <johnny@invalid.net> - 2015-01-04 17:26 -0600
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Dan Espen <despen@verizon.net> - 2015-01-04 18:57 -0500
    Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2015-01-04 16:07 -0800
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Dan Espen <despen@verizon.net> - 2015-01-04 19:57 -0500
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2015-01-05 01:01 +0000
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Dan Espen <despen@verizon.net> - 2015-01-04 23:20 -0500
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2015-01-05 06:49 +0000
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> - 2015-01-04 18:40 -0800
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2015-01-05 16:02 +0000
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2015-01-05 12:42 -0800
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2015-01-06 04:08 +0000
            Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2015-01-05 22:01 -0800
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-06 06:59 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be.invalid> - 2015-01-06 10:00 +0100
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2015-01-06 14:59 +0000
  Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2015-01-05 14:21 +0100
    Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 13:35 +0000
      Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2015-01-05 15:14 +0100
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 14:25 +0000
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2015-01-05 16:18 +0100
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised  changes? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2015-01-05 09:35 -0600
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2015-01-05 16:16 +0000
            Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 16:20 +0000
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2015-01-05 16:50 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 18:12 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-05 19:20 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 21:05 +0000
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2015-01-05 23:25 +0100
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-05 22:48 +0000
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2015-01-06 19:11 +0100
                Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net> - 2015-01-06 18:28 +0000
        Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2015-01-05 15:50 +0000
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2015-01-05 16:30 +0000
            Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2015-01-05 10:51 -0600
              Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2015-01-05 19:20 +0000
          Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2015-01-05 23:26 +0100
            Re: How do home users of linux protect themselves against ill-advised changes? John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2015-01-05 16:43 -0600

csiph-web